Responding to customer demand Dell has restarted selling new PCs with Windows XP installed on them. The decision reverses a policy begun in January that meant Windows Vista was the only operating system available on almost all new home machines. The change came after Dell's feedback site was swamped with calls for the return of the venerable software. Now customers can opt for the Home or Professional version of XP on six models of Dell machines. The four consumer versions of Windows Vista went on sale on 30 January and since then many PC makers have sold most of their machines with the software pre-loaded. Since January Dell has been gradually phasing out the XP option on new PCs. By March Dell only sold two models in its extensive range with the XP operating system installed. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

The debate over an anti-missile system to protect America and Europe against possible nuclear attack has not only moved forward with remarkable speed at NATO -- it's become a stage for post-Cold-War posturing by Russia and the United States. The United States met with NATO allies and high-ranking officials from Russia in Brussels on Thursday to reassure everyone that a proposed American missile shield really will protect vast parts of Europe and not pose a threat to Russia. The Russians remained skeptical, but the European allies were coming around to the idea of an American missile shield -- not primarily a NATO system -- protecting their territory from nuclear attack by "rogue states" like Iran and North Korea. The Americans argued that their plan for 10 interceptors in Poland would pose no threat to Russia's vast Cold-War arsenal of intercontinental missiles....http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,478508,00.html

The city's planning board has endorsed a proposal for a twisting lakefront tower that would become the nation's tallest building.With Thursday's approval from the Chicago Plan Commission, the design and site plan for the 2,000-foot Chicago Spire goes to the city zoning committee next week."This is a wonderful project, and everyone is very enthused," said Constance Buscemi, spokeswoman for the city's planning department.The 150-story tower, which would feature 1,200 residences, would unseat Chicago's 1,451-foot Sears Tower as the tallest U.S. building. It would also top New York's 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, under construction at the former World Trade Center site.The Chicago Spire was designed by Santiago Calatrava, the Spanish-born architect known for designing the Milwaukee Art Museum addition and the Athens Olympic sports complex....http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/20/tallest.building.ap/index.html?eref=rss_us

Fierce fighting has resumed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, following UN warnings of a humanitarian disaster. "My house was crashed, collapsed by the mortars of the Ethiopian troops," resident Isa Gedi told the BBC. "One of my sons died," he said by telephone, as shots could be heard in clashes between Ethiopia-backed government troops and insurgents. Only fighters and men protecting their property are in the city as women and children have fled, aid workers say. The main route used by people fleeing Mogadishu has been closed after a Ethiopian convoy on the road was mined and a blast at a nearby military base on Thursday. More than 200,000 people have fled their homes since Ethiopian troops helped the government oust an Islamist group from Mogadishu in December, the UN says. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6575039.stm

The maker of the Blackberry wireless e-mail device says an insufficiently tested software upgrade was the cause of this week's network failure. Blackberry's US and North American users lost their service on Tuesday and Wednesday as a result of the problem. Research In Motion (RIM) said it was now looking to improve its testing and recovery processes to prevent such an outage happening again. There are about eight million Blackberry users around the world. Blackberry said in a statement that the failure was trigged by "the introduction of a new, non-critical system routine" designed to increase the system's e-mail holding space. It admitted that "the pre-testing of the system routine proved to be insufficient". ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6574767.stm

The pressure on World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz has increased after the bank's directors vow to deal "urgently" with the scandal enveloping him. Mr Wolfowitz is facing calls to quit after admitting that he helped his partner win a promotion and pay rise. The bank's board of directors have said they will convene a group to deal with the matter, though no timetable has been set and the outcome is uncertain. The US, which appoints the bank's head, said it still supports Mr Wolfowitz. Dana Perino, a White House spokeswoman, said that the President of the US George W Bush "has confidence in Paul Wolfowitz". However, Ms Perino said it was appropriate to let the board of director's review process take place. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6575747.stm